Trump’s prospective running mate has also taken different positions on free trade and a proposal to at least temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States.
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If Pence is Trump’s choice, it would dramatically reshape the top of the IN ballot.
Gov. Mike Pence appears to be heading to into a new kind of race this election season – as presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s running mate.
Gov. Mike Pence will be Donald Trump’s pick for running mate, sources tell WTHR Political Reporter Kevin Rader.
Ahead of the Indianapolis Star, the New York Times reported that the Trump campaign was poised to pick Pence. His staff has not released details of any other planned appearances on Thursday. State law bars him from running for governor and the vice presidency and Pence has until noon Friday to withdraw his name from the state ballot. Pence hosted Trump at the Governor’s Residence Wednesday morning following his rally in Westfield, Indiana Tuesday evening.
National press said tipsters familiar with the Trump operation are pointing to Pence as the likely pick. However, the documents have not been filed, according to the Republican, who insisted on anonymity because that person was not authorized to publicly discuss Pence’s plans.
While Twitter buzzed, Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, pumped the brakes online.
In my view, Pence is preferable to Newt Gingrich, the other alleged finalist. The current Purdue University president announced Thursday he won’t seek the job, despite saying he had support from “apparent majority of the Republican State Committee”. He told CNN that he had meetings in the city for the campaign – before specifying that it was for the Pence campaign, not Trump’s.
Although a campaign spokesperson has indicated that an official decision has not yet been made, Trump this week said that his final announcement will be tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET. Trump, a political novice, has said for weeks that he wanted a running mate who could help him work with Congress.
The reports were met positively by Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican usually critical of Trump, who said that if the Pence news is true as he assumes, it’s the best thing Trump has done.
Pence, 57, is an IN native, a lawyer by training and a former talk radio host who served six terms IN the House before winning the governorship IN 2012. Essentially, it allowed people and businesses to deny services to LGBT people if they had a strong enough religious belief.
Trump asked his family to fly to IN on Wednesday morning for a meeting with Pence at the governor’s house, sources said. The 73-year-old would be the oldest candidate ever to become vice president.
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Gingrich has been a steadfast Trump defender for months and has become a trusted adviser to the businessman. Christie looks too much like a man servant when he stands next to Trump and Gingrich’s intelligence dwarfs that of Trump.
